IT seems the year 2009 has ended on a crucial and essential step being taken to improve the education system of Pakistan. A new Task Force has been announced to build capacity for the implementation of Education Sector Reforms by Prime Minister Gilani in Islamabad on December 15.

A day earlier, the UK prime minister, Gordon Brown, had already announced the setting up of the Task Force to the House of Commons. However, since the National Education Policy has not specified any clear goals or apprised decisions on language policy, Mr Brown made the announcement during a statement about his recent visit to Afghanistan.

He said: “And as part of our partnership with the civilian government of Pakistan, the new education task force jointly headed by Michael Barber and Minister Shahnaz Wazir Ali, and focused on implementing education reforms, is meeting for the first time today in Islamabad. £250m of our development assistance to Pakistan is directed towards education, as I have agreed with President Zardari and earlier this month with PM Gilani, because nothing is more important in addressing the root causes of so many of Pakistan's problems than building a strong universal state education system, free from extremist influences, and offering a viable alternative to low quality private schools — which include the poorly regulated and extremist madressahs.”

The Task Force consists of 11 members and four directors. A number of members are from the education ministries of the four provinces and seem a natural adjunct of the Task Force. The secretaries of education must be conversant with the reforms and their implementation process. Two members are director of Education, Fata and Dr Memon, Director of the Agha Khan Institute of Educational Development, Karachi. Ms Fareeha Zafar from SAHE is another worthy member having worked diligently for quality education for many years.

The Task Force aims to turn the government’s commitment to provide education for all primary age children into a reality. This is a positive development. There are more than six million children in Pakistan who are not in school and it's vital for their future, and for the country’s future that these children have the chance of an education.

The co-chairperson Shehnaz Wazir Ali at the inaugural meeting pledged to ‘devise an effective mechanism to ensure the upgradation of the educational system and meet modern-day requirements’. She dwelled on Task Force’s main objectives, namely, to monitor and supervise the different phases of implementation of the education policy.

For the purpose inter-provincial education ministers’ forum (IPEM) will be created to check any stumbling block in its implementation. Private and public sector partnership is essentially needed to remove disparities and implement a uniform education system in the country.

The other objectives are:

1. To increase the capacity of the federal and provincial governments to implement the education reforms set out in the National Education Policy.

2. To support the federal and provincial ministries and prioritise and identify clear goals for improving the school system.

3. To set targets for improvement and cascading them out through the system.

Among the directors, there are two international experts from USAID and DFID, UK, a representative for religious education and the fourth from an NGO, The Citizens Foundation. Almost all members have busy schedules running their organisations but it is to be hoped that they will find optimum and quality time to push through the reforms.

However, what lies ahead for the Task Force members is no easy task. Our national education policies have lacked clear cut implementation goals. In fact, most policies have failed miserably at the implementation stage leading to the dismal scenario that education faces in Pakistan today.

It has also been seen that education was never a priority with most governments, elected or otherwise, and fewer and fewer concerted attempts were made to enhance our capacity for reform. Even the present National Education Policy 2009 has a chapter on ‘Implementation’ but no concrete steps has been advised. It is all up in the air as previous chapters note the gaps and the failings of the past and suggested actions stated for the future.

Thus, the Task Force has a two fold agenda ahead of its intervention in the education system. Firstly, it has to prioritise policy directions without which no reform can be successfully implemented. Secondly, it must then ensure a proper tiered implementation plan to process the reform agenda.

The priority policy decisions are basically three and will consist of instructional language, religious education and teacher education. Decisions about these three priorities need to be taken firmly and uniformly on a national scale for quality education to become the norm.

For example, decisions about language policy i.e medium of instruction at primary and secondary level and the role of English as a second language for school, college and university levels must be clearly defined. So far the National Education Policy leaves it to the discretion of the provinces to choose what suits them. However, such grey areas in the policy can only lead to more confusion.

The Task Force must push through one concrete language policy for the country and define capacity building measures to implement it. For instance, if in Punjab, Urdu medium government schools are being replaced with English medium schools, then what criteria is being followed to implement this.

There is already a dearth of English Language teachers in Pakistan in the private sector as well as in the public sector. Were capacity building measures taken before the implementation of this reform? If not, then the reform is doomed to failure as substandard teaching in English language will most probably produce students with low comprehensive skills.

Second priority is to do with a clear cut policy decision on teacher education. Here, the Task Force has to focus on a very tightly built, radical and comprehensive approach. The National Education Policy 2009 stipulates that from now on B.A/B.SC graduates will be required for teaching in Primary schools and M.A/M.SC post-graduates in Secondary Schools. It seems that with the fall in education standards, the policy makers in this instance are just taking short term measures.

The in-service teacher accreditation requirement of the B.Ed degree has to be scrapped as the course is based on pre-partition colonial times. To raise standards, teachers all over Pakistan who are in service or wish to join the profession have to be made to go through a basic, standardised certification course after their graduate and post-graduate status. This one measure will ensure a single approach or mindset of teachers in all institutions. Only then will an across the board agency for change towards raising standards is bound to occur.

The Task Force can institutionalise this teacher certification course for 6 months initially. The six month period should comprise a practicum component of 2 months of apprenticeship or internship in schools. The mandate to run this course can be given to all public and private sector colleges and universities in the country. They can hold classes in the afternoon, evening and at weekends to facilitate in-service teachers. The coming summer break can be utilised as well to facilitate the teaching of this course. Thirdly, the format for religious education must be revised to create responsible, honest citizenry for Pakistan.

The time for emergency measures such as these are crucial for the success of a body like the Task Force. At the same time other interventions such as the pre-STEP initiative by USAID needs to become a part of the ongoing Task Force mandate as well. As often happens, the overlapping of reforms creates a hurdle in the way of proper implementation of a systemic effort to upgrade the system. It is to be hoped that the Task Force will take a long, hard look at what it has to accomplish in a short term as well as in the long term. It will also be helpful if the public at large is taken into confidence and measures taken are explained, tracked and monitored through the print media, internet, radio and television.

The writer is an educational consultant based in Lahore.